Snowy Holiday
by AnneofAvonlea
Summary: Ever since Tina told Artie the truth, things have been complicated. So what further complications will an approaching snowstorm cause?
1. Chapter 1

Tina stood at the window and stared outside at the falling specks of snow. The snow was falling lightly, but the outdoor landscape was already beginning its transition to total white. Tina shook her head at the irony of it: the forecasted storm of the century beginning the day after school had let out for holiday break. After all, what good was snow if it couldn't bring some unexpected days off from school as well?

Letting the curtain fall back into place, Tina turned away from the view trying to figure out what to do. Yes, there was the big project for her World Studies class that was due after vacation that she could be working on, but she had to honestly admit she wasn't in the mood to start it. And flipping through the channels earlier had brought the realization that there was nothing good on TV to occupy her time either. She collapsed on the nearby couch with a sigh. Earlier in the week, she had made plans to go to the movies with Mercedes, but an unexpected bug had brought an end to that plan. A quick text from Mercedes that morning had reported she was stuck in bed, feeling feverish and coughing up a lung.

Tina picked up a magazine from the nearby coffee table and began absent-mindingly flipping through it. It was one of her father's _Newsweek_ magazines. Yes, it was a definite sign she was bored. With her father away on a business trip and her mother working on paperwork of some kind in the office down the hall, the house was quiet…too quiet. Tina thought of grabbing her iPod, but it was upstairs in her room and although the distance wasn't far, she realized she was feeling too lazy to walk up and get it. As she flipped through the pages of the magazine looking to see if there were any articles halfway interesting, she began humming the melody to the latest song they had been rehearsing in Glee with Mr. Shue—an odd mash-up no one had initially thought would work well-together, but somehow actually did.

"_This is the day…"_ she sung lightly to herself, "_see it sparkle and shine…" _

She began to think of Glee. Rachel, Finn, Quinn, Puck, Kurt, Mercedes, Artie—they were an odd mix of personalities themselves, but somehow they all worked well together too. When she had first signed up for New Directions, Tina never imagined she'd actually call some of the football players friends, let alone several of the Cheerios, but some five months into Glee, they actually were. Yes, Puck was notorious for pretending not to know her (or more accurately: to hate her) outside of practice, but she knew it was primarily an act: a way to save face in front of his other friends. If no one else was around, even he'd give her a nod sometimes as they passed in the hallway.

In fact, it really was too bad that Glee didn't have rehearsals over the holidays. Yes, she had groaned with the rest of them when Rachel, the ever-constant perfectionist, had asked Mr. Shue if they shouldn't schedule a few rehearsals to keep up their skills, but now she wished that he had agreed. Seeing everyone each afternoon seemed normal. It was actually strange to sit at home and realize she wouldn't see everyone again for two whole weeks. Although Mr. Shue was probably right—they did deserve a break after all the long hours they'd been putting in—Tina wished the break could be more exciting. So far, the start to this vacation was seeming relatively depressing.

* * *

After finding nothing particularly interesting in the magazine other than an article about a Broadway revival of _Spring Awakening_, Tina tossed it aside. She was just about to get up and head into the kitchen in search of something to eat, when her phone buzzed. Flipping it open, she was surprised to see a text from Artie.

_Hey T—Getting buried by this snow yet?_

Tina smiled. It felt good to be remembered by Artie, especially after everything that happened in the past. She still often wondered what would have happened if she hadn't confided in him the truth about her stutter. Although she told herself continuing the lie would have been a bad thing, she also highly regretted how the truth had brought such an immediate end to what had seemed like the beginning of a promising relationship. He had stayed her friend, but there were many days when she wished she could just take back what she had revealed. After all, she knew, deep in her heart, she still really liked Artie.

_No, I'm just buried by boredom. _

She typed in her response and hit the send button. Tina stared at the screen, waiting a moment to see if there would be any immediate reply. She was rewarded by another vibrating buzz. Reading Artie's message made her heart rate accelerate just slightly:

_You can always come over to my house and hang out if you want._

Come to Artie's?? Although she did know where he lived, Tina had never been inside his home, so this request was a first. She considered the feasibility of visiting. With the snow falling, would her mom be willing to drive her?

There was only one way to find out, so she headed down the hall towards her parents' office. "Mom," she called, sticking her head in the doorway, "Anyway you can give me a lift to Artie's?"

Mrs. Cohen-Chang looked up from the papers that were spread in front of her. "Artie? Is that one of your friends from chorus?"

Tina nodded. "Umm…he asked if I wanted help going over the new song Mr. Shue is having us learn," she hurriedly added. She knew her mom always liked the idea of Tina putting in music practice time. Although instrumental music (specifically the piano) had always been Mrs. Cohen-Chang's preference for her daughter's focus, when Tina had taken up choral class (her mom's name for Glee), she had accepted it as a second-best option.

"Well," her mom began as she surveyed the papers on the desk, "I do have to run a few of these over to my boss in a bit. I suppose I can drop you off on my way. Go get your warm jacket and make sure you pull out a hat and scarf. It's cold outside."

Tina turned and headed back towards the front hall, rolling her eyes slightly at her mom as soon as she was out of her mom's sight. Of course, it was cold. It was snowing! She headed up to her room to grab her jacket, reopening her phone on the way so to let Artie know her decision. She bit her lip slightly, trying to decide how to phrase things, and ultimately decided just to keep it simple.

_Ok. Mom will bring me over in a few._


	2. Chapter 2

Tina and her mother were mainly silent on the drive over to the Abrams' house. Mrs. Cohen-Chang had her eyes closely trained on the road, which was already covered with a thin layer of light snow, while Tina sat and stared out the window at the swirling snowflakes in the air. She still couldn't quite get over how Artie had invited her over. Yes, they certainly spent plenty of time together at school and at Glee rehearsals and performances, but that was seldom without others around. In fact, ever since the truth came out, it actually seemed like Artie preferred times when he wasn't alone with her.

She noted how they never really had discussed what had happened. The morning after, she had found him and Mercedes waiting for her in their normal spot, and Artie had greeted her in his normal friendly fashion, and it was almost like the previous day—the kiss and following revelation—had never happened. But of course, it had. Yes, they might have fallen back into their routine friendship, but things weren't quite the same. Tina never wanted to bring the subject up, not wanting to further hurt Artie and further complicate things between them, but at the same time, she strongly wished they could talk it out and just put everything behind them. There was always this nagging feeling in her heart of what could have been.

The classical music station that her mom always listened to on the radio was playing soft instrumental Christmas songs, and although Tina wished she could switch it to a more upbeat station, she knew better than to touch the dial. After several songs—_Silent Night, Carol of the Bells, _and then _Joy to the World_—the station broke for a news and weather report. "Our area is under a winter storm watch from 5 p.m. this evening through 10 a.m. Thursday morning. Heavy snow and strong winds are possible across the region. Snowfall accumulations of 6 to 10 inches are possible, which will make travel potentially hazardous."

"Probably another storm we will not even get," Mrs. Cohen-Chang commented aloud. "The weathermen always like to blow these storms way out of proportion. Nonetheless, I don't want you staying too long at your practice. You call me by 4 to come pick you up, okay? I do not want to be driving over here after dark."

Tina glanced at her watch, before nodding. That would give her and Artie about an hour and half to hang out, which would work. "Okay, Mom. I will. And, by the way, the turn we need is right up here. It's a left onto Dalton Road."

Mrs. Cohen-Chang turned off onto a side road that led them first through an older housing development, and then down a steep hill to King Farm Estates, the development in which Tina knew the Abrams lived. It was only a few weeks ago, when Kurt had driven this route with Mercedes and her along. They had come to drop off some homework Artie had missed one day when he was sick. "It's 115 Vienna Way," Tina directed. "That brick house on the right."

Pulling into the driveway, Tina spotted Mr. Abrams outside on the porch with a shovel. He gave a wave and headed over to their car. As Tina gathered her things to head inside, her mother rolled down the window to greet him.

"I told Tina to call when she is done rehearsing. I'll come back and get her," her mom told him.

Mr. Abrams shook his head. "Don't worry about coming back," he replied. "We'll be happy to give her a ride back home. Our road can get pretty nasty in bad weather and there's certainly no need for you to have to worry about navigating it. Our van is probably much better suited than your car," he added.

Mrs. Cohen-Chang considered the offer for a moment and then nodded. "Winter driving is never my favorite. I much prefer to leave it to my husband, but he is out of town right now. Are you sure it is no problem?"

Mr. Abrams reassured her it wasn't. "It should be no problem at all," he repeated.

Tina's mom turned to face at Tina. "Well, that seems settled then. You be sure to give me a call when you're on the way, and be sure to thank the Abrams for the ride, okay?"

Tina let out a small internal groan. It was so much like her mother to continually remind her of the things she already knew she should do. "Yes, mom," she replied with a slight annoyed tone to her voice.

Her mom gave her a slightly disapproving eye for the tone, but with Mr. Abrams' standing by, thankfully didn't reprimand her. "Take care and have fun," she added as Tina climbed out of the car, "I'll see you later."

Tina smiled and gave her mom a wave as she backed out of the driveway.

"Hi Tina," Mr. Abrams greeted. "Artie's been waiting on you. Go right in, but do be careful on the walk. I haven't quite finished." He held up his shovel with a smile.

"Thanks, Mr. Abrams." She proceeded towards the front porch, carefully negotiating the snow covered walk. When she reached the front door, she paused. Even though Artie's dad had told her to go right in, it still felt sort of weird to stroll unannounced into a house she'd never been to. Turning the knob gently, she pushed the door open a crack, and peeked her face around the corner. "Hello?" she called out tentatively.

The part of the foyer she could see was completely empty, but then a familiar voice called out from somewhere behind the door, "Hey there, Tee."

* * *

**Author's Note: I must thank those who have left reviews so far. When I started writing this story, I really was expecting something pretty terrible to come out, so seeing the positive reviews and alerts come in was a pleasant shock. I know the beginning of this story is likely seeming pretty slow (in fact, is it too slow??), but I'm trying not to hurry things and, instead, am trying to let things just flow as the story itself seems to dictate. I hope all will continue to read and review. I do appreciate all feedback.**


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: _Sorry for the delay in getting another chapter up. Both the holidays and also a bit of writer's block slowed things down. I'm still not one hundred percent happy with this chapter, but I'm going ahead and posting it. I'm getting anxious to get into the main part of this story (like many of you probably are), so I figured I'd better stop stressing with this chapter for now and get working on Chapter 4. Thanks yet again for the wonderful reviews though! I'm still blown away by the fact that so many seem to like this story so far. :)_

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Tina stepped into the foyer and shut the front door behind her. There in the hall sat Artie with a friendly smile on his face. "You made it," he said.

"Yea," she answered. "My mom being a work-a-holic kinda paid off this time. She was able to drop me off on her way to work."

Artie silently nodded and then added verbally, "Good."

Tina shyly smiled. Although she normally wasn't at a loss for words when around Artie, she found herself uncertain of what to say next. Being over at his house, standing in the middle his front hall, was definitely causing the return of some of her shyness. She looked over to where he sat. What was the matter with her anyways? It was the same old Artie—brown hair, dark rimmed glasses, khaki slacks, a zipped up cardigan sweater that she had to admit reminded her a lot of Mr. Rogers….

"What?"

Artie's question immediately interrupted her thoughts. Tina lowed her eyes and blushed slightly. Artie had caught her eying him. "Uh. N-n-n-nothing," she stammered.

As soon as the word came out, she mentally kicked herself. After so many years of doing so, the stuttering had almost become a habit, but nonetheless, now that Artie knew the truth she felt absolutely horrible continuing it in front of him. After all, he knew it was fake and the words and particularly the hurt tone of his voice on that one day still echoed in her head. She glanced back up. There he still sat, his hands folded in his lap, his eyes looking directly at her. They stared awkwardly at each other for a moment, and then finally Artie spoke. "So what's up?" he inquired.

Tina couldn't help but feel it was one of those questions asked primarily just to have something to say, and even though her brain screamed at her to just let out everything that she had been mulling over for the past couple months—Why did you push me away for telling the truth? Can't we talk it over? Is there any hope for a second chance?—she pushed the thoughts to the back of her head and just gave Artie another smile. "Been a pretty boring day so far. How about you?"

Artie grasped the wheels on his chair and pushed himself forward a few inches, and then back. "Been playing games on the computer most of the afternoon. Just found this game, Adventure Quest, a couple days ago and have been busy trying to figure it out."

"Adventure Quest?"

"Yea, this online game where you get to fight monsters and magical creatures with spells and shields," he explained. He paused slightly and looked at her as if he was trying to gauge her initial reaction. "It's a total geek thing probably, but it's actually pretty cool. I'll show you if you want…"

"Okay," Tina agreed.

"The computer is in the den," Artie said pushing himself forward down the wide hall. "Come on."

Tina walked behind him as he rolled down the polished wooden floor, and then turned a corner into what was obviously the kitchen.

"Hey mom, you remember Tina, right?" Artie said. Tina spotted Mrs. Abrams standing at the center island and gave her a shy smile.

"Of course!" Mrs. Abrams replied. "How are you, Tina?"

"Fine, ma'am," Tina politely responded.

"We're just going to play on the computer for a bit," Artie called over his shoulder, as he continued forward into an attached room which Tina guessed was the den. The furniture was fairly sparse—a couch, loveseat and a wingback chair surrounded a large TV and then a computer desk sat over in one corner—but Tina figured the sparseness was probably for Artie's benefit. During school, Tina had frequently observed the challenges cluttered classrooms posed for him.

Artie rolled right up the desk, while Tina scanned the room for a good place to sit. The desk was without any traditional desk chair. Artie reached over and clicked the mouse, bringing the computer to life, and then noticed her still standing beside him.

"Oh, sorry. There's a spare chair in the kitchen…"

Tina nodded and was about to head back to get it, when she turned and noticed Mrs. Abrams carrying a wooden chair towards her. "Thought you might want this," she offered. "Most of the time, it's only Artie using this computer..."

"Thanks," Tina replied gratefully, setting the chair down beside Artie's.

"Yea, thanks mom." Artie added while simultaneously clicking open several windows on the computer. His mom hovered nearby for a moment, before Artie looked up and gave her a glance out of the corner of his eye as if to say, "Is there some reason why you're still here?"

Tina noticed his mom smile. "I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything, okay Sweetie?"

Artie shot his mom another look as she left. Tina couldn't help but notice that he had blushed slightly as well. "Moms," he muttered under his breath.

The next hour passed quickly, as Tina found herself getting completely tied up in the game. She had to admit Artie was right. Although everything seemed a bit complicated and confusing at first, it was also addicting. In fact, having it as a common thing to focus on seemed to settle a lot of the initial awkwardness she had felt present when she had first arrived. Exploring the fantasy land, talking to the characters, and fighting battles with strange mythical creatures kept both of them occupied for quite awhile.

In fact, when Mr. Abrams first appeared, Tina could hardly believe it was already time to go.

"Probably need to hit the road soon. Things are just beginning to look like they're going to get nasty soon," he commented as he entered the den.

Tina glanced out a nearby window and for the first time noticed how the little tiny flakes that were falling when she first arrived, had now turned into big, heavy snowflakes. Everything outside already looked much whiter than before.

"Uh…I'll get my coat," she responded, picking it up from the nearby couch she had tossed it on. She turned back to Artie. "Thanks for inviting me over."

He smiled. "Couldn't let you get buried by boredom."

Tina returned the smile and then turned to follow Mr. Abrams to the garage. "C-ya," she called over her shoulder.

"Bye," Artie responded.

As she climbed into the front seat of the Abram's van, Tina reflected a bit on her visit. There was still a lot more she wished for, but the fact that she and Artie could still hang out together as friends was a positive. After all, it was their friendship she was always most afraid of losing. In fact, after the whole revelation, that had been her worst fear: that she had destroyed any possibility of them being able to remain friends. It was also a big part of the reason why she was afraid of pressing Artie to talk more about what had happened; she didn't want to turn him away. Yes, things were still rough. After all, the game had been their only real topic of conversation for the past hour, but at least it was something. It was a stepping-stone. Maybe now that Artie had invited her over once, maybe he'd do it again…or was she getting her hopes up?

Before she could answer her question, the sound of spinning tires grabbed her attention. "Uh oh," she thought as the van's forward momentum all of a sudden began to slow. Tina noticed they had come to the steep hill, the hill that led down to the Abram's development, the hill that needed climbed to reach the main road...


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note**: _So I know it's been awhile since the last update. A trip away for a couple weeks and then just a period of time where inspiration was majorly lacking, got this chapter put on hold for longer than I expected. With some future scenes already roughly written up, hopefully the next few updates will come quicker._

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Tina couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive as she followed Mr. Abrams back into the same house that she had left only about ten minutes earlier. Although Mr. Abrams had made several valiant attempts to urge his van up the hill that led out of the development, the layer of icy snow on the road had only caused the van's wheels to begin spinning uncontrollably each time before they reached the top.

Tina had volunteered to just call her mom, walk up to the top of the hill, and wait for her to come and take her home, but Mr. Abram's wouldn't hear of it.

"No, Tina. I don't think your mom would want you standing outside along the side of the road in this weather. We'll head back to the house and call her from there." He looked at her, smiled, and then added, "Don't worry. We'll be happy to give you a place to stay until the weather clears."

Tina felt her insides instantly begin doing flip-flops. Stay at the Abrams? She honestly wasn't sure what to make of that possibility. There was a tiny part of her that was excited at the idea of spending additional time with Artie, but then another part that overflowed with nerves and alarm. Spend the night at the home of the boy she liked, the boy she'd hurt, the boy who haunted her thoughts almost continually...how would that work?

Mrs. Abrams looked up in surprise when they entered the kitchen. "What are you doing back?" she anxiously asked her husband, "Did you forget something?"

Mr. Abrams shook his head. "The hill is terrible already," he explained, as he removed his hat and gloves. "Try as we might, all the van tires did was slide."

Mrs. Abrams set down a spoon she was holding and wiped her hands on a nearby kitchen towel. "Tina, sounds like we should call your mom then. With the looks of things outdoors, she's probably getting worried."

Tina nodded, even though she thought it likely that her mom was so engrossed in work that she probably hadn't even noticed what it was currently doing outside.

"We'll let her know that it's probably a good idea for you to stay put until this storm passes," Mrs. Abrams continued. "What's her number, sweetie?"

Tina mumbled the number, her feelings of uneasiness inside, still rising. If the weather guys were right, this storm would continue though tomorrow afternoon, and that would certainly mean staying at the Abrams overnight!

Unsure of what else to do, Tina stood by and just silently watched as Mrs. Abrams dialed.

"Mrs. Cohen-Chang? Hello, it's Alice Abrams…Artie's mom. The roads are really a mess out there and we were just discussing how it might be best for Tina to stay put until the storm clears." Mrs. Abrams paused and listened for a moment and then added, "No, it's no problem at all. We'll be happy to have her."

Tina raised an eyebrow. Her mom was actually agreeing to this? She had secretly hoped perhaps her mom would disagree and volunteer to come and get her, but from the sounds of things, that wasn't happening. Tina turned at a familiar sound approaching behind her. She forced a small smile as Artie appeared in the kitchen.

"What's going on?" he asked aloud, with a definite puzzled expression on his face.

"It seems we will have a house guest tonight," Mr. Abrams whispered, conscious of his wife, who was still on the phone.

Artie stared blankly at his dad for a moment as the words sunk in. Once they did, he immediately looked over at Tina. "You?" he mouthed.

Tina nodded, "It seems that way."

Artie didn't give any immediate response. In fact, even though Tina badly wished she could know what was going through his mind, his expression left no clues. His face stayed blank and unreadable. Tina inwardly sighed. Artie could be a master at hiding his emotions sometimes. Tina felt an urge to ask him whether her staying over was okay, but that seemed like too awkward a question to ask with his parents standing right there. They'd probably ask why she was even asking, and well, she didn't really want to go into it all with them. Probably Artie wouldn't want that either. Tina began to wonder if Artie had ever confided in either of them about what had even happened on that one day.

Tina's attention was suddenly interrupted by Mrs. Abrams. "Well, it's all set," she declared, hanging up the phone. "Your mom completely agrees with us. The roads are just too treacherous to attempt driving this evening. You'll stay, have dinner with us, we'll fix you a spot to sleep here tonight and they we'll all see how the roads look tomorrow morning, okay?"

Tina nodded. She knew she didn't have a choice.

"Artie, you want to grab a couple blankets out of the hallway linen closet? You can help Tina fix up the couch in the den for tonight, while I finish getting dinner ready."

"Okay," Artie agreed. He turned his chair towards the door and then glanced back at Tina. "You coming?"

"Yea," she replied, slightly hesitantly. She began to follow, only to have Mr. Abrams reach out and stop her. "Here, let me take your coat," he offered, gently patting her shoulder.

Tina shrugged off her heavy black peacoat, and handed it to him. "Thanks," she answered quietly.

"And Tina," he continued, "Don't worry about the storm. A little snow won't harm us."

Tina noticed Artie begin to smile. "Yea, did you know Tee, that you're in the presence of royalty? Mom is the Always be Prepared queen. You should see our pantry. No one is going hungry anytime soon!" he joked. "And, Dad, being an old scout, he vies sometimes for that title too."

They all laughed, causing Tina to smile too. Little did they realize that it wasn't the snowstorm causing her worries though. She knew her anxiety was completely caused from being around one specific person. That person, of course, being Artie.


End file.
